rat rods

I guess I never posted any pics of the car my friend built back in 2006. It's long gone, went on Ebay, but this one is the one that started his rod building.

Model A sedan body chopped & channeled over a modified 36 truck frame. Corvette front & rear grafted on there. Can't say I cared for the SBC drivetrain but whatever. Car drove like it was on RAILS.

The car had a "horror" theme to it with a skull in a custom made grill shell, a mini coffin air breather, and barbed wire adorning the valve covers. You would not believe the looks and complinents this car got.

Originally Posted by jeremyl

I guess I never posted any pics of the car my friend built back in 2006. It's long gone, went on Ebay, but this one is the one that started his rod building.

Model A sedan body chopped & channeled over a modified 36 truck frame. Corvette front & rear grafted on there. Can't say I cared for the SBC drivetrain but whatever. Car drove like it was on RAILS.

The car had a "horror" theme to it with a skull in a custom made grill shell, a mini coffin air breather, and barbed wire adorning the valve covers. You would not believe the looks and complinents this car got.

Kind of reminds me of one I saw on Youtube in motion.

It's nice to see something I started still going. (the thread not rat rodding)

I don't know about you guys but I love the cars because of what they are, NOT because of some clique that goes with them. Comraderie is great and all, but you shouldn't let that decide whether or not you like a type of custom car.

I love em, as long as they are safe and drivable. I don't agree with using a good condition car but finding a miscalaneous truck cab or a half rotter Model A or something is great. I love how much creativity goes into making things work. You find a random part and try and make it fit somehow. That can be one of the most fun parts. As for painting it a flat rust orange or brown, why not? I mean really, leaving the bare metal will just shorten it's lifespan but painting it a shiny colour while the rest of the car is all black and dirty would just look odd. The flat colours are what I personally think look best on them, fits the dark theme. An evil creature skulking in the dark, shiny shows but flat colours hide.......okay, cheesy but you get the point. I will be building one probably fairly soon (3-4 years from now) and will spend a lot of time perfecting the cuts and aligning the doors perfectly but then I won't grind down some welds. And I'll be doing all this because it's the way I LIKE IT. It's my car and I'll build it the way I want to. I don't understand why people feel the need to point at others and say "you're doing it wrong" when no, they're just doing it in a different way than you would. That doesn't make it bad. It's all about taking what you have and making it work YOUR WAY. I like to take what I have and spend time on some details while leaving others. It's kind of like a signature or a finger print.

They are having a event called "hell on wheels Nostalgia drags" at National trail raceway here in Ohio this Saturday. IT is sponsored by the "Road Devils Car Club"". It only open to 72 or older cars and they are using a flagger to start you. I think ist gonna be something to see,I'm taking my galaxie up.

Originally Posted by big

What do you guys think of them ?

This is a Hot Rod not a Rat Rod.
The term started when people got sick and tired of the "Iv'e got 150,000 in my car" people who did nothing to the car other than sign the check!!!!!!!!!
They just wanted to drive their car and have fun with it. Granted some of them I would not drive across the street but they are built in their garage with their own hands!!!
It is where Hot Rodding Started !!!
Fuzzy

I guess Rat Rod is a term that some people like and others dont. As for the car being finished or not to me any car someone is working on is no different than any work in progress. The 40s and 50s cars were being modified with parts in the junk yard. back in the 40s and 50s the scrap yard was your parts source. getting an old model A for 10 bucks and you and your buddys building one was easy and cheep. The safty factor back then was very thin. I love to see old cars and people who find something about their car that brings them back to a time of fun and less wories. I have a 65 primer black galaxie with a rattle can flame job. Some people call it a rat rod but i think of it as a hot rod. Also alot of the "rat rod" guys use only parts that are from original cars. no bullet. They also make alot of the parts or modify them to fit. Thats a true car person. I tell people who call my 65 a rat rod this....I have not found any rats in this car, just some change, gum wrappers and an empty coke bottle.

I have a friend who builds cars from the 20s thru the 50s. He doesn't exactly find the term Rat Rod complimentary. He does understand what the people mean when they use the term.

I like the old cars and the people who have taken the time to keep them out of the crusher. As for if they are true car people or just a 40 somthing year old guy in a mid life cricis I dont really care.

These guys are pretty cool. Voodoo Larry did my paint on my car but he will tell you my 65 galaxie is a hot rod not a rat rod even if it is flat black.

Originally Posted by big

What do you guys think of them ?

Well Big,

Its like this. What is your definition of a ratrod? You hear all kinds of stories about what a ratrod should be but not many people know what a ratrod consist of. A true ratrod is a car or truck or even bike with parts from whatever to make car or truck or something to drive down the road. Does a ratrod have to be a certain make or model or is it everything thrown into one pot and hope for the best as long as it is drivable.

In some states a ratrod has to have a title and can be tagged to drive on the road as well as insurance. I know guys who have what they call true ratrods and they have salvaged parts from whatever they could find that would fit with a whole lot of cutting and grinding just to make parts fit so they could ride down the road. Some folks seem to think a ratrod should only have parts from whatever the manufacture is whether it be Ford, Chevy, Dodge ect. ect...

I have a ratrod trike that has a 1983 Yamaha 1200 Royal Star front end with a 1969 Chevy 350 motor with 400 hp and 1981 700 R4 overdrive transmission connected to a 1993 Ford Lincoln 8.8 limited slip rear end with disc breaks. Its not a bike and its not a car and its not a truck even though I stole some ideas from earlier models and of all the models and I am not through yet. I was putting gas in the other day and a lady ask me what I called that thing? I looked right at her and said with a big smile on my face "FUN" is what I call it.

Since I do have a Ford rear end I hope I can post these two pictures just this once to show you an example. After you have seen them its fine with me if they get deleted because they are not all Ford parts and the forum has every right to do so. I just wanted to show you my definition of what I call a true ratrod. Well in some shape or form anyways. I guess what I am trying to say is; a ratrod is what you want it to be using anything you can get your hands on to make it work and drive down the roan. I could have just as easily put a straight axle on my ratrod but I wanted to be different. All it takes to be a leader is to be a half a step in front of the one who thinks they are in front. May all the manufactures keep doing a good job just means more parts I will use later.

I like them. I like the idea of build something out of nothing, and i like all the fabrication invloved. if you cant weld, dont try to build one. me and a buddy just finished one out of a merc truck, and we did the entire thing without spending a dime on anything.